Nevis Foundation

A Nevis Offshore Foundation is a legal structure established under the offshore laws of Nevis. Nevis offshore foundations are governed by the same laws of a foundation but in this instance is used for carrying out the affairs of the foundation on an offshore basis in that Nevis foundations enjoy many tax benefits and exemptions, are subject to very little bureaucracy and reporting requirements. Nevis foundations are hybrid entities which are formed by the merging of basic features of Nevis trusts and offshore foundations.

Nevis offshore foundations are specifically known as the Nevis Multiform Foundation and were created under the Nevis Multiform Foundations Ordinance. Nevis offshore foundations acquired the name ‘Multiform Foundation’ because of the high degree of flexibility with which Nevis foundations are endowed. The ‘multiform’ concept of a Nevis foundation comes from the basic trait of these foundations that enable them to function either as a trust, partnership, company or an onshore foundation. In other words, Nevis foundations are not restricted to function only as offshore foundations in that they are capable of accommodating and catering to the needs of the foundation’s founder by being able to fulfill any one of these roles. The purpose of the Nevis Multiform Foundation whether as a Nevis trust or company must be stipulated in the foundation’s constitution.

Subject to the Nevis Multiform Foundation Ordinance, corporate entities in Nevis can be merged, converted, consolidated or continued into Nevis Multiform Foundations. The continuance of a foundation to Nevis as an offshore multiform foundation is achieved by the redomiciliation of that particular foundation to Nevis. Corporate entities located outside of Nevis can also be transformed into Nevis offshore foundations, while any two or more different companies can merge and redomicile to or become registered in Nevis in order to act as a Nevis Multiform Offshore Foundation. The Nevis Multiform Foundation Ordinance also allows a company to discontinue as a Nevis offshore foundation and redomicile or become registered in another jurisdiction. These features make Nevis Multiform Foundations highly mobile corporate structures, which mean that they are able to render a number of benefits that suit the profiles of the foundation’s founder and officers.

Like the basic offshore foundation, Nevis Multiform Foundations serve the basic purpose of managing assets. While Nevis offshore foundations have a wide range of uses, they are particularly beneficial in areas such as asset protection, maintaining corporate control, establishing pension funds for employees, charity, separating voting and economic benefits and succession planning by holding assets which can be transferred from one family generation to another. The structural and functional flexibility of a Nevis Multiform Foundation additionally allows for the management and protection of assets such as investment portfolios, bank deposits, shares, stocks and real estate.

According to the Nevis Multiform Foundation Ordinance, all Nevis offshore foundation formation must be done by a registered offshore service provider that is licensed to offer offshore foundation formation services in Nevis. Nevis foundation formation procedures require Nevis offshore foundations to have a registered agent, registered office, memorandum of establishment, management board and a secretary. The registered agent of the Nevis foundation is required to undertake the necessary steps for the Nevis foundation’s or Nevis company formation, while notices and correspondences can be directed to the foundation’s registered office. Before Nevis offshore foundation formation, the proposed foundation name must be accepted and registered by the Registrar of Companies, and cannot be a name that already exists. The foundation’s formation documents must be filed at the Registry.